The News from Gettysburg

145th Anniversary of the Gettysburg National Address: Celebrate This Day in History

By Elif Kaynak

On a Thursday afternoon during the Civil War, merely four and a half months after the pivotal Battle of Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln uttered the first line of a speech that would become one of the greatest in U.S. history:

“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”

One hundred and forty five years later, the importance of these words resonates as strongly as ever and reminds Americans of the struggles undergone in the name of liberty and justice. With an historic election fresh in our minds and Veterans Day quickly approaching, now is a better time than ever to celebrate the president that not only led the way to abolish slavery, but also preserved the unity of the country by leading her through the Civil War.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008 marks the 145th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg National Address speech. Memorial services and ceremonies commemorating this important day in history will be held at Gettysburg National Military Park in the Soldiers’ National Cemetery, now known as the Gettysburg National Cemetery.

The Wreath Laying Ceremony at the cemetery will kick off the day’s events at 10:15 a.m. Representatives from several organizations will place wreaths at the Soldiers’ National Monument on behalf of the United States of America, including Ron Hankey (Lincoln Fellowship of Pennsylvania President), David Acheson (Sons of Union Veterans’ Chief Commander of the National Order) and John Latschar (Gettysburg National Military Park Superintendent).

Speakers at the Dedication Day Ceremony will include American director and documentary producer Ken Burns and Lincoln portrayer Jim Getty, who will recite the Gettysburg Address. Pennsylvania’s 11th Volunteer Infantry Fife and Drum Corps will present the colors. Scott Hartwig, Vice President of the Lincoln Fellowship, will emcee the event, and Gettysburg High School Ceremonial Brass Band and soloist Wayne Hill will also make appearances.

The US Colored Troops (USCT) Graveside Salute will follow the Dedication Day Ceremony. A wreath-laying ceremony will be carried out at the grave of Private Charles H. Parker, a Civil War veteran with Company F of the Third Regiment who was first buried at Yellow Hill Cemetery after dying from injuries sustained in service in 1876. The keynote speaker of the ceremony will be Harry Bradshaw Matthews, founder of the USCT Institute at Hartwick College, and author of From Whence They Came: The families of United States Colored Troops in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, 1815-1871 and Honoring New York’s Forgotten Soldiers: African Americans of the Civil War. In addition, reenactors from the Washington D.C. area will represent Company B, USCT 54th Massachusetts, and USCT reeanactor Mel Reid will provide brief remarks.

For those who can’t make it out to celebrate during the week, additional activities will take place on Saturday, November 22nd at Gettysburg National Military Park. The annual Remembrance Day parade showcasing Civil War living history will begin at 1:00 p.m. The parade will be followed by the Sixth Annual Remembrance Illumination, which is sponsored by the Friends of the National Parks and will begin at 5:30 p.m. During the ceremony, 3,500 luminary candles will be lit on the graves of Civil War soldiers as a solemn commemoration of the sacrifices made on this and other battlefields.

For more information on the events taking place at Gettysburg National Military Park, please visit the Civil War Institute at www.gettysburg.edu/civilwar/institute.

A ranger-guided tour celebrating this day in history will also take place at the National Mall and Memorial Parks. The Gettysburg Address is carved in stone on the south wall of the parks’ Lincoln Memorial, signifying the endurance and timelessness of Lincoln’s words. The hour-long ranger program will examine the context, creation, delivery and legacy of Lincoln’s speech. The free program will start at the Lincoln Memorial Chamber on November 19, 2008, at 12:00 noon, 2:00 p.m., 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. There is no charge for the event. For more information, contact Nate Adams at 202-438-6640.

Gettysburg's Cyclorama Building Granted Reprieve

The Cyclorama building will be around at least long enough to witness the resolution of a lawsuit between Gettysburg National Military Park and a preservation group suing the government over the building's planned demolition.

Park officials said in a letter to federal Judge Alan Kay that plans to demolish the structure in December will be postponed until a ruling is made on the case.

What’s Next if Park Service Doesn’t Attain Revenues?

Now that Gettysburg National Military Park and its management partner have passed a new admissions package to offset a projected operational shortfall at the Battlefield Visitor Center, locals are left to wonder: What’s next?

Gettysburg Park Museum's New $7.50 Fee Starts Today

As of today, the artifacts and exhibits at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center are no longer available to the public for free.

Instead, visitors will now be charged an all-in-one admission fee to explore museum exhibits, view a 22-minute film about the Battle of Gettysburg and see the newly restored Cyclorama painting.

Visitors Center Might Charge All-in-One Fee

When the Gettysburg National Military Park visitors center opened in April, officials there assured the public that its interactive and audio and video intensive, state-of-the-art museum would be free to all. Now the National Park Service is asking for public comment (until Sept. 29) on a proposal to charge admission fees of $5 to $7.50.

Gettysburg battlefield museum fee plan takes flak

More than anything, Craig Lorden said, he is "saddened" by the possibility of a $7.50 admission fee becoming reality at the new Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center.

The park's thousands of artifacts are what draw people to the new facility, and they should be available free of charge to the public, Lorden said.

Admission Fee Floated for Gettysburg Museum

A visit to Gettysburg National Military Park’s museum may no longer be priceless.

The National Park Service and a nonprofit group that operates the museum have proposed charging admission fees of $5 to $7.50 per person.

Gettysburg Address to Return for Visitor Center Grand Opening

There are only five known manuscripts of the famous Gettysburg Address, penned by President Abraham Lincoln — one of those original documents is scheduled to appear in Gettysburg, during the grand opening celebration of the new Gettysburg National Military Park Visitor Center.

Battle of Gettysburg 'witness tree' falls in storm

GETTYSBURG, Pa. -- Standing just 150 feet from the platform on which President Abraham Lincoln delivered his most famous speech, one of the few remaining "witness trees" to the Battle of Gettysburg has been severely damaged by a storm, National Park Service officials said.

The huge honey locust tree on Cemetery Hill fell Thursday evening.

Battlefield ready again

GETTYSBURG, Pa. — Every night, tourists in this farming community, site of the bloodiest battle ever fought in North America, stroll city streets on commercial ghost tours.

But visitors don't need to pay to hear about ghosts. They only need to walk the 6,000 acres of battlefields, or simply step inside the brilliant new visitor center. Ghosts are everywhere.

Study shows private land in Gettysburg park unprotected

A new study shows that 1,054 acres of land within the Gettysburg National Military Park is unprotected from development. That's the private land within the park with its 6,000 acres of Civil War battleground.

Co-founder Dean Shultz of the Adams County Land Conservancy says many people don't realize privately owned land inside the park can be developed in any way local municipalities permit. And the Gettysburg park spreads across five municipalities with a wide range of zoning.

Last Step for 175-Mile 'Journey' Historic Area

A proposal to declare a 175-mile stretch from Monticello to Gettysburg a National Heritage Area has cleared its final legislative hurdle and awaits President Bush's signature.

The House of Representatives voted Tuesday to grant the designation to the Journey Through Hallowed Ground, a corridor that encompasses parts of Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. The Senate approved the measure last month.

For three years, activists and legislative leaders have been seeking the designation, which they say will boost tourism and bring federal grants to an area with a high concentration of presidential homes, Civil War battlefields and other historic sites.

Gettysburg park pulls plug on huge electric Civil War map

For decades, visitors willing to shell out a few extra dollars at Gettysburg National Military Park could be entertained _ or bored _ watching an electric light display showing troop movements in that pivotal Civil War battle.

With the opening of a new museum and visitor center that offers a bigger "wow" factor for the park's nearly 2 million yearly visitors, the National Park Service has decided that its 1960s-era electric battlefield map has outlived its usefulness.

As patrons of the new $103 million facility learn about the battle by immersing themselves in some new technology, the old center stands vacant, awaiting demolition next year. Before that happens, the 30-by-30-foot electric map inside it _ embedded with more than 625 colored lights _ will be dismantled and placed in storage.

Battlefield visitor center lacks disabled access

Disabilities-rights activist Marilynn Phillips is prepared to file a complaint with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission regarding the newly opened Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center - which she alleges does not "reasonably" accommodate disabled patrons.

Phillips' main gripes are with the center's 500-foot sloped sidewalk from the parking lot to the entrance, the low number of handicap parking spaces, a lack of automatic and power-assist doors and the absence of Braille signage for blind persons and audio tapes for the hearing-disabled.

Park superintendent John Latschar said that the $103 million center was built to comply with state and federal accessibility standards. "As far as I know...we've done everything that's legally required," he said. However, Latschar said officials are prepared to address a number of accessibility-related comments they have received from visitors since the center opened on April 14.

National parks need protection

National politicians have a love-hate relationship with national parks. They often cite their accessibility as a cherished American value but don’t want to pay for the steps necessary to ensure that the parks always will be worth accessing.

A case in point is the failure of Congress to protect hundreds of parks from encroaching private development that can diminish the parks’ natural or historic value.

As noted by the National Parks Conservation Association, one in five acres inside the boundaries of the Gettysburg National Military Park are privately owned. At Valley Forge, one in 10 acres is privately owned.